Lovely Recordings

My music collection is probably best described as eclectic. It all started in my late teens and then particularly in my early twenties when I stopped smoking and picked up a CD habit instead. Perhaps worse on the pocket, but at least I had something to show for it afterwards. And better on the lungs.

I have a library of music that has every genre one can think off, I often find that I listen to the melody/tune more than actually following the lyrics (except when listening to Bob Dylan, the Doors, or Rolling Stones), if the beat, rhythm and pace grabs my attention I will collect it… Below are some of the records I particularly like, will try to send some more later on but for now I thought this is a good starting point to share.

The late 80s and early 90s were tough times for a teenage music nerd. Pop radio and MTV was all hair metal and watered-down hip-hop, there was no internet to foster discovery of new sounds, and the grunge movement had not yet ignited. Somehow I managed to latch onto some albums that wove big melodic hooks into songs with more than four chords. There tended to be good studio production and instrumentation that leant itself to close listening. While I did not know it at the time, these early exposures to recordings with aural depth set me on a path toward full-scale audio buffoonery.

I’ve appreciated reading Mr. Lavorgna’s writings on all topics since stumbling onto his website “Twittering Machines” years ago while searching for more information about PJ Harvey (listen) or maybe it was Don Cherry’s album Art Deco (listen). I’ve really appreciated Audiostream and the Lovely Recording submissions and, wanting to help out, have struggled with the below off and on since Mr. Lavorgna first made a request for submissions.

The selections below have given me years of transcendent enjoyment. For me, music is ultimately a spiritual experience. But sharing music is actually the best part. In fact, most of the works listed here were shared with me by my dear friend (and incredible musician) Dominique Leone. So, thanks Dominique, and you're welcome AudioStream readers ;)

Beginning in the late 1960s and 1970s a wave of new traditional music spread over the world. Spurred in part by The Band, musicians that were originally more rock oriented embraced trad and trad musicians played with a different kind of drive. This was not fusion -- the point was not to fuse different elements but rather to use the drive of rock (or another radical reorientation – see Kirk and Dilla below) to get back to the essence of traditional forms and to make them forceful for audiences who thought of the music as old fashioned. Here are a few of my favorites, as well as a few others that I think fit into this mold even if the musicians would never admit it! I’ve definitely expanded the category a bit, but they are all lovely recordings.

The following is a list of 15 recordings that I enjoy. They are listed in no particular order, and they are simply the first recordings that came to mind. I expect that I will kick myself shortly after sending in this list for leaving out hundreds of other great recordings that I hold in high regard. I hope that these recordings provide you with as much listening pleasure as they provide me.

Okay, I get that this list is possibly stretching the limits of what constitutes 'exceptional' from both a musical and sonic point-of-view, but taste being what it is, this is more-or-less representative of a small corner of mine.

This round of recordings are things that I discovered in one way or another from Tidal. Either the artists were brand new to me or ones I've known about and rediscovered. And then there a few notable mentions that friends pointed me to.

As not to repeat Michael Manousselis selections of Lovely Recordings where I enjoy many of the same recordings on a daily basis, I’ve chosen to go the fun route. These recordings certainly won’t be played for critical listeners on expensive rigs but I definitive enjoy them in my car or listening on head-phones riding the subway, a fun factor of 10.

I’ve been involved with music and hifi my whole life. I sang professionally for 10 years, and then transitioned to life in the real world, first selling audio at several high-end stores in DC and NYC, then at Andante.com, and early classical music subscription service, and for the past 12 years saving the world from bad metadata at Gracenote.

I listen to all kinds of music, and particularly love jazz, but other genres have been well covered by previously. Opera can be difficult for the uninitiated, so I thought this might be a good theme for my own Lovely Recordings installment.